Kate’s Engagement-Ring Replica Removed from Copies of Royal Jewelry on Sale

RAPAPORT... Copies of Kate Middleton’s sapphire and diamond
engagement ring have been removed from a collection of replica royal jewelry
going on sale to the public, the U.K.’s Daily
Mail reported January 3.

Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge and wife of Prince
William who is second in line to the throne in Britain, may have herself banned
the sale because the real ring has a deep personal significance for the couple,
the newspaper’s diary editor Charlotte Griffiths wrote in a post, citing royal
sources.

The original ring once belonged to William’s
late mother Princess Diana. Its replica was expected to be part of a ‘Princess
Diana jewelry collection’ sold online and at a royal gift shop at William and
Kate’s official residence, Kensington Palace.

"We do
make the ring but they don’t want us to supply it to the gift shop," the Daily
Mail cited a spokesperson for the copy’s manufacturers, Otford-based Bill
Skinner Studio, as saying.

A miniature replica version of
the ring is still available on the website as part of a ‘ring charm’ for $147
(GBP 100).

“I expect the feeling at Kensington Palace is
that it’s rather naff to sell cheap copies of Diana’s engagement ring,”
Griffiths cited a royal source as saying. “One can hardly blame Kate for
vetoing the idea of them selling a knock-off of the ring she wears every day.”
A spokesman for Historic Royal Palaces declined to comment, the report said.